TUF 14 Finale results: Marcus Brimage tops Stephen Bass in slugfest

LAS VEGAS – Although former teammates, Team Bisping featherweights Marcus Brimage and Stephen Bass looked anything like it during a hard-hitting three-round slugfest at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale.

Both fighters inflicted and received substantial damage, but a resilient Brimage walked away with the unanimous-decision victory.

The fight concluded the preliminary card at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, which streamed live
on Facebook prior to the Spike TV-televised main card. The event took
place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

The first round saw both fighters doing damage from the clinch, and they often tangled in the center of the cage to trade punches and knees. Brimage got the better of it and left his opponent’s face bloodied, though Bass also did a fair amount of damage.

Two accidental low blows from Bass took a toll on Brimage in the second round, but after the timeouts, a stick-and-move striking strategy allowed him to pop Bass on multiple occasions. One-two combos proved especially effective, and his takedown defense was stellar.

The third round has a little of everything, though an early wobble and a very late-fight knockdown proved Bass was clearly still in the fight. But it wasn’t enough to win over the judges, who ultimately awarded the fight to Brimage via 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 scores.

The two fighters, who both suffered quarterfinal-round losses on the reality show’s tournament, quickly embraced after the early “Fight of the Night” candidate and celebrated the barnburner.

“Stephen Bass, he’s a jiu-jitsu guy, but he came out here and tried to lay down a smackdown too,” Brimage said. “I
feel pretty good. The game plan didn’t go like I wanted to. Stephen
was able to utilize his angles as well, but it ended up being a good
fight.

“I’m not ecstatic about the outcome but I’m very grateful.”

Brimage (5-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) now has won both of his fights since a year-and-a-half layoff in 2009. Bass (10-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) suffers his first pro loss.

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